CHAPTER FOUR
District 4 was coming along better than they thought, though that wasn't news to Gale. His updates on 4 were pretty much all the kept him going figuring 2 and 3 were driving him crazy. 4 was the only District going as planned.
When they arrived at Annie's place, she greeted them with warm hugs and kisses. Everybody played nice so well that Gale wondered if he were imaging how tense the two women seemed to be towards each other.
After dinner, though, and after Finnick Junior—who was an exact replica of Finnick Sr—was put to bed, Johanna broke the ice. They were all in the living room, sipping tea.
"Annie, I'm so sorry it's taken me so long—"
"Don't," Annie interrupted.
"Maybe I should leave you two alone," Gale had said, starting to rise.
"Don't be silly," said Annie. "You don't need to leave," she told Gale, "and you don't need to apologize. Finnick was your best friend. I know you loved him. I know this isn't easy for you, to see Little Fin. It's not easy for me, either. Some days I look at him and can't help but cry."
"I left you alone."
"You didn't. Mrs. Everdeen has been a wonderful help. And Katniss and I are pretty good friends, now. She and Peeta came to visit a few weeks ago, you know."
"How is—are they?" asked Gale. He wanted to ask about Katniss, but that wasn't his place anymore.
"They're… coping. It's funny. Peeta's the one who was hijacked, and Katniss is bringing him back to health. But he's doing the same for her. They're each other's rock. If you watch them for too long, it's almost like you're intruding. They get each other. Peeta still worships the ground Katniss walks on, but… she does the same for him. I think she got a glimpse of how her life would be without him when he was still in the Capitol.
"They love each other," she finished simply. "They've been through so much darkness, but somehow they've found light in each other. At least, that's how he described it. Those were actually his exact words to me. And Katniss Everdeen, the fearless Mockingjay, sat next to him with tears in her eyes. She's not the sentimental one, that one, but he knows how to touch her. It's really sweet."
"I bet," muttered Gale to himself.
"He had an episode while he was here. Or, rather, a flashback."
"What?" Gale snapped out.
"He told me he's taking some sort of medication that helps him become aware of when they're coming. He can't stop it, but he can control it. It was tense. He told her to leave, which I assume is a normal routine. She seemed… heartbroken. Like the last thing she ever wanted to do was leave him like this. I think she felt like a part of her was deserting him. But he tells her to leave because he's terrified of hurting her. She stayed with her mother than night and Peeta had me tie him up in a chair until it passed. The next morning he apologized to her, but he was cold and distant. Katniss told me he always gets like that after a flashback. He wont' look at her, let alone touch her. She said normally they won't have sex for like a week." Gale shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "He's embarrassed, she thinks, but they get through it. They're good. And one day they'll be fine."
XXXX
Gale had gone for a walk after that, returning well into the night. He softly opened the door and quietly crept into the house, being careful not to wake anyone. He realized pretty quickly that Annie and Johanna were still up, though. He was about to walk into the living room when he heard his name.
"So what's up with you and Gale?" Annie had asked. Gale stopped in his tracks.
He heard Johanna scoff. "Are you kidding me? Nothing. It's been a year and he still isn't over the Darling of the Capitol. Did you see him while you were talking about Katniss and Peeta?"
"He was definitely uncomfortable," agreed Annie. "But I think you're jealous."
"Don't be ridiculous. Gale's a great guy. But he's soft. He mopes around all the time feeling sorry for himself. You should see the pain that flickers into his eyes every time somebody wears a damn braid around him. I wish he'd just get over it."
"Not everybody's as strong as you, Johanna. Not everybody can get over the loss of a loved one as well as you. And some would say the way you handle it isn't any better. The whoring around, the drinking…. Who are you to judge Gale?"
"He was one of the major leaders of the Rebellion, and right now he's stuck on stupid over a girl who he knew would choose Peeta. And he knows Peeta's right for Katniss. Instead of being happy for her, like I was for Finnick, he mopes around as if it's the end of the world. Meanwhile I've lost everyone, everybody I have ever loved, and you don't see me crying."
Annie paused for a few moments. "You like him."
Johanna blurted out, "I slept with him."
"Johanna!"
"Annie, I've tried to convince myself it was wrong, but I can't. He was fucking amazing."
"Are you-?"
"No. Gale knows it won't happen again. It was… a fling. A stupid fling. He's in love with somebody else. And I'm done coming second to people."
"If you opened up to Gale he'd love every piece of you."
"And I'd still always be second to the Girl on Fire. No thank you. I kept you and Finnick because I loved you both. I don't feel that way about Gale. I'm not gonna wait for him to grow up."
Annie spoke after a minute or so of silence. "Are you trying to convince me? Or yourself?"
XXXX
A few weeks later Johanna barged into their apartment, slamming the door behind her, and pounded on his door. She didn't wait for an answer before she turned the knob and let herself her.
"What the hell has gotten into you?" asked Gale.
"I'm the one asking the questions, Hawthorne," she scolded. "Relax. We both know you don't have a girl in here." She folded her arms and jutted her chin out at him. "So you're speaking at the Memorial Ceremony next month." She said it like she was accusing him.
"Yah. What's it to you?"
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you'd make fun of me."
"Of course I would, but isn't that why you love me?"
Gale snorted. "Do you wanna come with me?"
This time he didn't shock her, he shocked himself.
"What, as in your date?"
"Yes. No. Yes. Shit. I don't know." He took a deep breath. "Do you wanna come with me as friend, who also happens to be my date?"
She stared at him for a moment. "Only if you promise me you won't make goo-goo eyes over the Darling of the Capitol all night."
Gale tried not to grimace. "Then I guess it's a date."
XXXX
Like most people, the two of them arrived a few days early. There was an entire memorial weekend dedicated to the fallen people of the second Rebellion.
Gale and Johanna arrived a few days after Katniss and Peeta. Gale was at home when the two of them got off the hovercraft, Haymitch at their side. The three of them looked tense, but Gale doubted anyone else even noticed. Cheers of 'Katniss, Katniss, Katniss' reigned all around.
Gale was surprised that his arrival was noted. He, Johanna, and Beetee, who had come along at Johanna's insistence, got off the hovercraft to their own cheers.
"Do me a favor, Gorgeous," Johanna said in his ear.
"What's that?"
"Take one of these bimbos back to your hotel and fuck them."
He stiffened as he stared at her.
"If I wanted to take somebody to bed, it'd be you," he told her in her ear. He felt her body stiffen.
"That'll never happen again, Hawthorne."
He grinned at her as he reached the car that was waiting for them. "Wanna bet?"
He was genuinely surprised when she came to his room later that night. He always suspected it was because she never wanted to be caught off guard. She liked to play by her own rules, nobody else's. By sneaking up on him, she was suddenly in control.
She jumped on him, wrapping her legs around his waist as soon as he'd opened the door. Then her lips were on his, and it was the first time they'd kissed, and it was filled with heat, and passion, and for the first time, for the first time in life, he realized that Katniss Everdeen wasn't the only girl that could be on fire.
She made his blood boil as he moaned, walking backwards as he tried to make his way to his room. Thank God, thank the Almighty One upstairs that Beetee had declined Gale's invitation to share a room. Gale wasn't sure he'd be able to find his room—or make it there at this point—and if he didn't, well he was going to take Johanna right here, against the wall.
She took his shirt off and flung it across the room. Then she ran her hands through his mane of black hair, and then down his back. He shivered—he actually shivered, and then moaned aloud.
He made it to the bedroom, and to the bed. He dropped her and stared at her, his breathing rugged. She sat up via her elbows and watched him, her chest heaving heavily. He slipped off the sweat pants he was wearing, never taking his eyes off of her. He watched as she followed his movements, a light blush creeping on her cheeks.
When he was naked he pulled her shirt off of her, and then started on her pants. When they both were naked he wasted not time in climbing on top of her and entering her.
He lost track of how long they coupled, how many times she called out his name, how often she clawed at his back. And he definitely lost count of how many times she came. They just rocked, back and forth, the headboard crashing into the wall, repeatedly, until her name spilled from his lips and he emptied himself into her.
Afterwards, they lied there, in silence until their breathing became even again.
"Thanks for that," she told him. "I needed a few moments to get my mind off of Finnick. They keep showing him on TV, you know." Slice to the heart. "And I'm sure you need a few moments to escape. You'll be face-to-face with Katniss for the first time in a year and a half." Another slice to the heart.
She started to slip out of bed when he grabbed her by the arm. "This had nothing to do with Finnick, and it had nothing to do with Katniss," he told her, looking at her.
She seemed like she wanted to argue, but in the end she sighed. "Don't do this, Gale."
"Do what?"
"I told you I'd hurt you."
He shook his head. "I want you to stay tonight."
"That's not a good idea."
"Who are you trying to convince: me, or yourself?"
She recognized the words Annie had said to her a few months ago, and knew he'd been eavesdropping.
"I knew you were listening," she grumbled, finally lying back down. This time she got under the cover. "I felt you. I always feel you."
He smiled in the dark as he got under the covers. He held in a sigh when she curled up next to him.
"Oh, and Johanna? You were wrong."
"About?"
"Me being a virgin. You weren't my first."
"Oh. Who was?"
"Madge."
"Who the fuck was Madge?"
Gale grimaced. "An old friend. She loved Katniss as much as I did. She… died in the bombing of 12."
Johanna was silent for a long while. "You fucked your girlfriend's best friend?"
"Well when you make it sound like that…. It was shortly after Katniss had left. We were distraught. I never told Katniss…."
"You're as fucked up in the head as I am," Johanna said after a while.
"Yet you're lying next to me."
"So what's that say about you?"
"That I don't think you're that fucked up at all," Gale told her softly.
Not knowing how to respond that that, Johanna didn't reply at all.
